Virat Kohli has had to douse the flames of a social media firestorm after his tongue-in-cheek response to a 'mean tweet' backfired spectacularly.

In an advertisement for a mobile app, Kohli was filmed replying to a fan's harsh critique of the world-famous cricketer.

"Over-rated batsman and personally see nothing special in his batting. I enjoy watching English and Australian batsmen more than these Indians," the fan said of Kohli.

The Indian skipper did not appear pleased after reading the comment aloud, and immediately hit back with a scathing response.

"Okay, I don’t think that you should live in India then," Kohli said, looking to camera, while sitting on a couch.

"You should go and live somewhere else, no? Why are you living in our country and loving other countries? I don’t mind you not liking me but I don’t think you should live in our country and like other things. Get your priorities right."

What followed was national outrage as Indian fans took to social media.

Many cricket supporters were quick to call out Kohli's bumbling effort to sledge the fan, sharing video of him naming former South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs as his favourite player. Others shared images of Kohli endorsing German cars and quoted an old tweet of his supporting German tennis star Angelique Kerber.